Transaction card gate mechanism
AssigneeITT Manufacturing Enterprises, Inc.
InventorLeroy Esteban Magana
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Apparatus of simple construction that can pass the front portion of a smart card to a card reader, while safeguarding the card reader from vandalism. A gate device (32) whose front end (52) can be pivoted up by the leading edge of the card, is initially prevented from pivoting up by a pair of release members (34, 36) lying within laterally opposite sides of the card path (24). The opposite corners (J, K) of the card leading edge push the release members laterally (L) out of the card path and causes the release members to release the card gate to pivot up.
Claims14
Apparatus for use with a card of predetermined lateral width, where the card has a card front portion with a leading edge, comprising:
- a card reader;
- a housing that forms guides that can guide the card front portion in movement forwardly along a card path that has a longitudinal axis, to said card reader;
- a gate mechanism including a gate which initially lies in a closed position wherein it blocks substantially the entire card path as viewed along said axis, to prevent the insertion of items along said card path;
- said gate is moveable from said closed position wherein said gate blocks the forward passage of an object along said card path to an open position wherein it allows passage of the card front portion forward of the gate, and said gate mechanism includes a pair of release members with card-engaging parts lying at laterally spaced locations within said card path and coupled to said gate to initially block movement of said gate but to allow movement of said gate toward said open position when said card-engaging parts are pushed apart to move at least partially in said lateral directions.
Apparatus for use with a card of predetermined width, that has a card front portion with a leading edge that has opposite corners, comprising:
- a housing that forms a card slot with walls for guiding said card along a card path that has a longitudinal axis and laterally opposite sides;
- a gate which is moveably mounted on said housing, with said gate having a card-blocking part that initially lies along said card path and that can be pushed largely forward by said card front portion to move said card-blocking part to an unblocking position out of said card path;
- at least one release member biased toward an initial position wherein a card engaging part of said release member lies laterally within one of said sides of said card path to be engaged by one of said opposite corners of said card leading edge, with said release member being moveable at least partially in a lateral direction to a release position wherein its card-engaging part lies laterally outside the corresponding side of said card path;
- said release member has a release part that stops said gate device from moving its card-blocking part from said initial position to said unblocking position, in said initial position of said release member, and said release member is constructed to release said gate to move to said unblocking position when said release member moves to said release position.
A method for inserting a card that has a laterally-extending leading edge with laterally opposite corners into a card reader that includes a gate that normally locks full insertion of the card into the card reader, comprising:
- inserting and moving said card leading edge forwardly through a card slot and along a card path, past a pair of release members that lie within laterally opposite sides of said card path and that prevents opening of said gate, while deflecting said release members at least partially in lateral directions away from each other and out of said card path sides and out of engagement with said gate that extends in line with said card path to release said gate to move from a position in said card path to a position out of said card path.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.